Method of increasing the rail grip of railway vehicles



1,730,717 METOD :oF INCREASING THE RAIL GRIP oF RAILWAY VEHICLES Oct. 8`, 1929. J. BERTscHMANN Filed-Deo. 21, 1928 z sheets-sheet 1 Oct. 8,1929.

J.' BERTSCHMANN METHOD OF INCREASING THE RAIL GRIP OF RAILWAY VEHICLES Filed Deo. 21, 1928 e sheets-sheet 2 X29. 'if' Fnmmuml elw Patented Oct. 8, 1929 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAKOB BERTSCHMANN, OF SAMADEN, SVITZERLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM RAUS- CHER & STCKLIN, OF SISSACI-I, SWITZERLAND METHOD 0F INCREASING THE RAIL GRIP 0F RAILWAY VEHICLES Application filed December 21, 1928, Serial No. 327,718, and in Germany May 5, 1928.

IVith sand-sprinkling devices as at present employed the sand is carried in special boxes on the vehicle and is passed from these by air pressure or gravity through tubular passages onto the rails. These sand-sprinkling devices are often unreliable because the sand in the boxes and tubular passages easily becomes wet, binds together and cannot be delivered through the tubular passages even under considerable air pressure.

Now the novel feature of the present in vention is that the sand is provided at the position of use or in the immediate neighbourhood of same and for example in the form of an artificial sand-stone carried by the travelling vehicle and which will yield sand when pressed onto the rail. Alternatively sand may be scraped oif the artificial stone by means of a rotating Jfriction member, said sand passing onto the rail directly in front of the driving wheels, or the stone may be arranged to abut against the periphery of a driving wheel.

The advantage of employing the rail for rubbing oif the sand from the artificial stone is that the rail is freed from adhering oil, grease, or dirt which generally causes slipping of the driving wheels. IVhen a. rotating friction member is employed for scraping off the sand it is possible to apply as much sand as is required to the rails even on long journeys.

The artificial stone may be manufactured for example by causing suitable sand (quartz sand) to bind or set with the help of a binding means such as cement. The granularity of the resulting artificial sand-stone should be suoli that saidsand-stone will yield sand freely, not becoming dirty and smooth by taking up oil and grease from the rail but remaining rough.

Two constructional examples of the apparatus are shown in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing z- Fig. 1 shows in vertical section a device for applying a block of sand-stone directly to the rail,

Fig. 2 is a plan of the device shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 shows on a smaller scale, two of the devices according to Figs. 1 and 2 mounted on the under-carriage of a. railway vehicle,

Fig. 4 shows by way' of example only the electric circuits for the actuation of a plurality of electromagnets. The electromagnets may however be otherwise actuated as required,

Fig. 5 shows an alternative construction in under-carriage 11 of the driving vehicle. In

each toothed portion (rack) of the rod3 there v engages a toothed wheel 4. The toothed wheels 4 are secured to shafts 12, 13 rotatably The spiral mounted in the housing 10.- springs are arranged on the shaft 12, said springs being secured at one end to the corref sponding toothed wheel 4 and at the other end to the housing 10. Arranged on the shaft 13'is a spring 7 secured at one end to the housing 10 and at the other end tothe corresponding toothed wheel 4. Springs 6, 7 tend to rotate the wheels 4, 4 to push the rod 3 downwardly and hence to press the stone 1 against the rail 14. Aratchet wheel 15 is securedto the shaft 13 and is engaged by one arm of a two armed pawl 9. A spin 16 is provided on the other arm of the pawl 9, said pin proj ecting into an electromagnet 8. I/Vhen the elec- -tromagnet is energized a bolt 17 therein strikes against the pin 16 and by thismeans the pawl 9 is'withdrawn from the ratchetV wheel 15 allowing the springs 6, 7 to rotate vthe wheels 4, and to press the stone onto the rail 14. Thestone 1, consisting of quartz sand bound or set with cement is removably mounted in the holder. 2. It is maintained in u position by means of projections 18 engaging grooves in the stone. y

Vhen the electromagnet 8 is excited the stone 1 is pressed onto the rail by the springs 6, 7 and cleans said rail, adheringoil and dirt CII being removed from the rail so that the driving wheels will then have sulicient grip and slipping of same will be avoided. Assoon as the electromagnet 8 is cut out of circuit the pawl 9 again engages the ratchet wheel 15. Owing to the up and down movement of the under-carriage of the vehicle relatively to the rails when the vehicle is in movement, the stone 1 with the holder 2 is spaced above the rail so that friction with the rail cannot occur when the stone is in the withdrawn position.

In order that the pressure of application of the stone to the rail may be suciently p great even when the stone is considerably worn a spring 20 is advantageously arranged between cranks 21, 22 on the shafts 12, 13. The spring 20 grips onto eccentric pins 2st. The tension of the springs 6, 7 is such that when anew stone is inserted in the holder 9 the necessary pressure transmitted tov the stone by the springs 6, 7 is exceeded. The spring 2() initially opposes the pressure of the springs 6, 7 to reduce the pressure to the correct value. Vhen however the stone 1 has become worn and in consequence the springs G, 7 have lost their initial tension, the spring 20 comes into operation, by virtue of the change in position ot the cranks, to assist the action Vof the springs 6, 7 n

The stone 1 may alternatively slide along the periphery of the driving Wheel, or, as diagrammatically shown in F ig. 5, a rough disc 26 could be provided, against which the stone 1 is pressed. The disc 2G would be rotated and would remove sand from the stone 1, said sand falling between the periphery of the wheel and the rail 14. The disc 26 could be driven by rolling on the rail 14. A special drive could however be provided for the disc 26 from the driving wheel of the vehicle or from a'small electromotor.

F or each of the driving wheels of an engine two devices are arranged in such a man ner that one of the devices is ready for use in what ever direction the engine runs. To bring the device in operation the switch 30, or 31 is closed, thus the circuit through all e the electromagnets 8 is closed simultaneously and the stones released.

What I wish to secure by U. S. Letters Patent, is

1.A method ofV increasing rail grip by sanding the rails of railway vehicles, consisting in pressing an artiiicial sand-stone inV front of the driving wheel of the vehicle, on to the rail with suoli force that Vsand is scraped olii said artificial sand-stone onto the rail.

2. A device for carrying into eiiect the `method defined in claim l, comprising in engagement with the rail against the action of the said pressing means and means to release the last said retaining means.

3. A device comprising in combination a stand-stone, a holder for said sand-stone, a rack fixed to said holder, at least one pinion engaging said rack, springs acting on said wheel to press the holder downward, a retaining member adapted to lock the holder against the action of said springs, electromagnetic means to release said holder.

4. A device comprising in combination a sand-stone, a holder for said sand-stone, a rack fixed to said holder, at least one pinion engaging said rack, springs acting on said wheel to press the holder downward, a pawl engaging a member standing under the pres sure of said springs, an electromagnetic de- .vice to withdraw said pawl.

5. A device comprising in combination a sand-stone, a holder for said sandstone, a

double rack fixed to said holder, two toothed gears each engaging one of the racks, two levers each being'iixed to a shaft of one of said gears, a spring interconnecting the said two levers,l additional springs adapted to press the sand-stone downwards, a locking element adapted to hold the sandstone against the action of said springs and electromagnetic means to release the sandestone.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAKOB BERTSCHMANN. 

